West campus hosted its 21st annual re-enactment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech on Wednesday.
The New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences theater professor Charles St. Clair delivered the speech to an audience of more than 800 middle school students.
St. Clair is also the chair of the ASU MLK Committee.
"We honor Martin Luther King, Jr. by reenacting the march every year and inviting children on to campus to educate them," he said.
The West campus’ MLK Committee organized the event, said community relations director Roberta Magdaleno.
Prior to the speech, event participants attended workshops and learned about the different aspects of the Civil Rights Movement and the life of Martin Luther King Jr., Magdaleno said.
"All of the participants gather in front of campus for the reenactment of the March on Washington," she said. "They march up through the campus and convene on the Fletcher Library lawn.”
The re-enactment provides an educational opportunity for all students, St. Clair said.
"We go by that saying that 'Rosa sat so Martin could walk, so that Obama could run, so that our children can fly,'" he said. "We now have wings and we're hopeful of having opportunities to give our youth the power to follow their dreams."
The event aims to educate youth and provide awareness about the true meaning behind Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"It's a holiday and it's a day off, but I look at it as a day on to serve and to move forward," St. Clair said.
The re-enactment has kept its content close to the events of the March on Washington, D.C., St. Clair said.
"If we don't continue to reach out and educate and empower our youth, then we are at a loss because they are the future,” he said.
The speech is not memorized, but read, St. Clair said.
“I would never think of this as a role that I'm playing, I'm simply trying to channel the spirit of Dr. King to instill in those who listen to the speech some hope for the future of all mankind,” he said.
Though the speech harkens back to a decade long past, Martin Luther King's dream offers a glimpse of hope that future generations should experience, St. Clair said.
"However dark the night is, no matter what your social or economic situation is, you can still have a dream and that dream can be accomplished," he said.
Reach the reporter at dgrobmei@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
